high humidity and winterizing Mexcan fan palm

[vistaprime]

Hi everyone,

 

Do I need to be concerned about the high humidity my Mexican fan palm is showing while it's boxed up for winter. it's been hitting over 90% while the mule palm only 10 feet (  about 3 meters) away is showing  humidity in the 70's on average. The crown of the Washingtonia was sprayed with copper fungicide before boxing up and I am scratching my head why both palms are showing such different humidity readings when they are so close together. Right now the forecast for humidity in my area is in the 85% range due to warm  spring like weather and rain and also being about 15 minutes from Lake Ontario.  Should I be concerned abut the high humidity? And any guesses as to why one palm is showing higher humidity readings than the other one?

[SeanK]

I purchased a robusta in Savannah years back at HD in a 10-inch pot. I defoliated it each year after Thanksgiving (US) and protected the trunk and spear. It eventually grew to about 10ft of trunk in 7 or 8 years, growing 2 dozen leaves each year. It eventually died in 2010 when we had snow 5 times in Atlanta. 

Don't bother protecting the leaves.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Do these get any fresh air circulation when the weather permits? Constant humid, cool, stagnant air is not anything Washingtonia tolerate.

[vistaprime]

2 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

Do these get any fresh air circulation when the weather permits? Constant humid, cool, stagnant air is not anything Washingtonia tolerate.

it's in a breathable enclosure

[vistaprime]

HI any other comments on this. I am worried about the high humidity. Today it hit 97%.

[Allen]

You should open the box and see if any mold/fungus is on any of the fronds/spear.  if not don't worry too much.  Try swapping the sensors

[Palmlex]

Last winter I protected my filibusta in a fairly airtight enclosure, where the humidity would be over 90% most of the time, only opening it for a few hours during the weekend and by the end of winter it looked great. Sure, it had a bit of spotting on the older leaves, but other than that, it survived in a place where it shouldn't have 😁

[vistaprime]

On 3/11/2023 at 1:37 AM, Allen said:

You should open the box and see if any mold/fungus is on any of the fronds/spear.  if not don't worry too much.  Try swapping the sensors

This is how it's looking now. Should I spray with more fungicide.  I think we have about 4 to six weeks to go due to the low temps at night until May.

[Allen]

31 minutes ago, vistaprime said:

This is how it's looking now. Should I spray with more fungicide.  I think we have about 4 to six weeks to go due to the low temps at night until May.

 

I would cut out and discard any dead/moldy fronds that are completely brown, spray all with fungicide and let dry before closing back up.  Look on the inside/top of those fronds and check for mold.  I'm seeing some.  is the box temp controlled on a thermocube type device?

Edited Thursday at 09:14 PM by Allen

[vistaprime]

12 minutes ago, Allen said:

I would cut out and discard any dead/moldy fronds that are completely brown, spray all with fungicide and let dry before closing back up.  Look on the inside/top of those fronds and check for mold.  I'm seeing some.  is the box temp controlled on a thermocube type device?

Thanks, I will do so now. I  will remove the dead brown fronds if not the stems, I don't want to disturb the string. my landscaper did the wrapping. Then I will spray all over with the copper fungicide.  Inkbird is set to on at 5 and off at 10 Celsius. Next year might make that 7 to 12 C to beat back the humidity. 

[vistaprime]

1 hour ago, Allen said:

I would cut out and discard any dead/moldy fronds that are completely brown, spray all with fungicide and let dry before closing back up.  Look on the inside/top of those fronds and check for mold.  I'm seeing some.  is the box temp controlled on a thermocube type device?

Did what we could.  here's the updated photo.  updated photos is below. Just going to spray and close it back up. it's been opened for about 4 hours today. temps will start to drop soon.

[ChicagoPalma]

4 hours ago, vistaprime said:

Did what we could.  here's the updated photo.  updated photos is below. Just going to spray and close it back up. it's been opened for about 4 hours today. temps will start to drop soon.

That looks ways better now.